3.23.2009

In the second of this series of ICF: TurfwaR post-event interviews, I bring you some comments from Mark Crawn out of Beckley MMA, who is teammates with FightTicker.com member George Oiler (aka nofee). In his first fight at Middleweight, Crawn defeated Keith Cunagin via first-round submission.

You can find the interview after the jump. FightTicker: How did it feel to get a win in your first fight at Middleweight?

Mark Crawn: It felt good, felt real good actually. Made the cut no problem, no issues, I think I could’ve taken it further if I needed to. FT: Dropping down to Middleweight, do you feel like you lost any strength?

Crawn: Not at all. I felt better than I’ve ever felt. FT: When do you think you’ll fight again?

Crawn: I’m ready to go in May. (PV’s note – the ICF has another event scheduled at Turfway on May 16th.) Don't know about an opponent yet, I’ll talk to Steve - I’d like to get a shot at the [amateur middleweight] title.

FT: What did you think about your opponent tonight?

Crawn: Good kid, you know, strong will. But I had a gameplan to go in there and impose my will on him tonight and I wasn’t going to let anything get in my way.

FT: Your last couple fights have been stand-up battles, but I know you’re a BJJ guy at heart – is a submission win something you were looking for?

Crawn: Yeah, I really wanted to do that tonight. I think a lot of guys think I’m just a stand-up guy because the last few fights that’s all I’ve done and I wanted to prove I can go to the ground and do what I need to do on the ground so I wanted to show that skill set.

FT: Anybody you want to give a shout-out to?

Crawn: Revgear.com and the Navy – the Navy is one of my sponsors, I’m Active Duty Navy, and Dirty Grappler (PV's Note - Dirty Grappler is Beckley MMA's house brand.).

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If anybody had any doubts about Crawn's ability to work the submission game, this fight should have given them second thoughts. Not only did he win via submission, but before he secured the guillotine he almost nailed a kneebar early in the fight. It should not be much longer before he is contending for the ICF amateur middleweight title.